tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464/articlesstate of the states 2018 – The Conversation2018-11-01T19:07:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050462018-11-01T19:07:33Z2018-11-01T19:07:33ZStates and territories have improved integrity measures, but Commonwealth lags far behind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243148/original/file-20181031-76384-r8f3hd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Voters want their governments – local, state, and federal – to clean up their act and put integrity reforms high on the agenda.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
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<p>When it comes to cleaning up Australian politics, some states are doing much better than others – and almost all are showing up the Commonwealth government. </p>
<p>Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">State Orange Book 2018</a>, released this week, compares the states and territories on the strength of their political institutions and checks and balances (among other things). Queensland and NSW received an A grade from Grattan for political transparency and accountability. Both have stronger rules than other states on lobbying and political donations.</p>
<p>Western Australia, once a leader after introducing lobbying reforms in the mid-2000s, is now only middle of the pack. Tasmania and the Northern Territory are the poorest performers – both get an E for transparency of their political dealings. The Commonwealth government sits with them at the back of the pack.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=337&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=337&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=337&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243421/original/file-20181101-173913-1b7y2j8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<h2>Some states are highly transparent</h2>
<p>Some states and territories have made political lobbying much more open to the public gaze. NSW, Queensland and the ACT now publish ministerial diaries, so voters can see who is trying to influence whom, and when. All jurisdictions except the Northern Territory have a lobbyists’ register, and Queensland and South Australia require lobbyists to publish details on which ministers and shadow ministers they meet with.</p>
<p>Most states have also introduced reforms to help voters “follow the money” in politics. NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT require donations of $1,000 or more to be publicly declared. Only Tasmania has the same high threshold as the Commonwealth government ($13,800). Most states and territories require political parties to aggregate small donations from the same donor and declare them once the sum is more than the disclosure threshold. But Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth have left this loophole gaping.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/influence-in-australian-politics-needs-an-urgent-overhaul-heres-how-to-do-it-103535">Influence in Australian politics needs an urgent overhaul – here's how to do it</a>
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<p>The disclosure threshold for donations should be no higher than $5,000 in all states and territories, and at the federal level. And donations should be disclosed quickly – preferably within seven days during election campaigns, as now happens in Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, or at least within 21 days, as in NSW and Victoria. Tasmania, and the Commonwealth, still leave us <a href="https://theconversation.com/time-for-the-federal-government-to-catch-up-on-political-donations-reform-100822">waiting up to 19 months</a> to find out who donated to political parties during elections. </p>
<h2>State governments are becoming more accountable</h2>
<p>Almost all states have improved their level of accountability to voters in recent years. All states and territories now have a ministerial code of conduct, setting out standards of ethical behaviour, including rules on accepting gifts and hospitality. And all have introduced a similar code for other parliamentarians, or are close to adopting one. The Commonwealth has a code only for ministers.</p>
<p>But enforcement of the codes is typically weak, meaning the codes are more like guidelines than rules. In most states, the premier or the parliament ultimately determine sanctions for misconduct. Enforcement can easily become political.</p>
<p>NSW and Queensland have independent oversight of their codes of conduct. The other states and territories should follow. And there should be meaningful sanctions for misconduct and for breaching disclosure rules – such as large fines or jail time, as applies in NSW. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/australians-think-our-politicians-are-corrupt-but-where-is-the-evidence-101822">Australians think our politicians are corrupt, but where is the evidence?</a>
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<p>The states have also made progress in exposing and tackling corruption. All states and the NT now have dedicated anti-corruption or integrity agencies that provide some reassurance to the public that serious issues will be confronted. There is one on the way in the ACT. </p>
<p>Only the Commonwealth lags in this area. It would be naïve to assume that corruption at the federal level is less prevalent or serious than at state level. Establishing an equivalent agency at the federal level should be a priority for the Commonwealth.</p>
<h2>All states and the Commonwealth can do better</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/whos-in-the-room/">appearance, and sometimes reality</a>, of political decisions favouring special interests or politicians’ self-interest has contributed to voter disillusionment and falling trust in government. Voters want their governments – local, state, and federal – to clean up their act and put integrity reforms high on the agenda. Reforming political institutions is both <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/morrison-can-get-a-quick-win-by-cleaning-up-canberras-murky-dealings/">good politics and good policy</a>.</p>
<p>Every state and territory could do better by looking at <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">best practice around the country</a>. States and territories should fill the gaps we have identified in their transparency and accountability frameworks. They should also introduce a cap on political advertising expenditure during election campaigns, to help reduce the power of individual donors and free-up parliamentarians to do their jobs instead of chasing dollars.</p>
<p>Most of all, our laggard Commonwealth government needs to <a href="https://theconversation.com/influence-in-australian-politics-needs-an-urgent-overhaul-heres-how-to-do-it-103535">lift its game</a>. Federal ministers should be required to publish their diaries. A list of all lobbyists with security passes to federal Parliament House should be made public and kept up-to-date. Big donations to federal political parties should be disclosed in close to “real time”. And voters should have confidence that misconduct by federal MPs will be independently investigated and punished.</p>
<p>Otherwise, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/a-crisis-of-trust/">the crisis of trust</a> in Australian politics will only grow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.
The Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carmela Chivers and Danielle Wood do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Almost all states have improved their accountability in recent years, and are far ahead of the Commonwealth government.Danielle Wood, Program Director, Budget Policy and Institutional Reform, Grattan InstituteCarmela Chivers, Associate, Grattan InstituteKate Griffiths, Senior Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1053782018-11-01T03:53:47Z2018-11-01T03:53:47ZAbolish stamp duty. The ACT shows the rest of us how to tax property<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243391/original/file-20181101-173896-16lz7oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The ACT has Australia&#39;s best state tax system, NSW the worst.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s State Orange Book 2018. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
<p>You might think that being a state (or territory) treasurer is a boring job. The federal treasurer gets all the media attention and controls many of the big economic levers, including income and company tax, massive Australia-wide spending and trade and competition policy. </p>
<p>But you would be wrong.</p>
<p>Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/"><em>State Orange Book 2018</em></a> shows that if state treasurers relied less on taxes that hurt the economy and more on the ones that are the very best they could provide a huge boost to their economies. </p>
<h2>The big prize</h2>
<p>Almost every tax hurts economic growth, but some hurt more than others. </p>
<p>Our state treasurers know this, yet they continue to make poor choices.</p>
<p>Taxes on transactions, such as stamp duties on real estate purchases, are particularly inefficient.</p>
<p>They make it more expensive to move home to take a new job across town or in a different town, encouraging people to stay put. They make it more expensive to move into bigger or smaller homes, encouraging people to renovate instead.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/to-make-housing-more-affordable-this-is-what-state-governments-need-to-do-105050">To make housing more affordable this is what state governments need to do</a>
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<p>With the typical stamp duty bill now above A$40,000 in Sydney and Melbourne, this is more than just an idle theory. </p>
<p>In contrast, taxes on land are <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/property-taxes/">extraordinarily efficient</a>, and council rates equally so. </p>
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<h2>ACT is showing the way</h2>
<p>The Australian Capital Territory has Australia’s most efficient tax base – every dollar of revenue raised costs the economy just 21.9 cents. </p>
<p>New South Wales has the least efficient – every dollar of revenue raised costs the economy 29.7 cents. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=534&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=534&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=534&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=671&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=671&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243371/original/file-20181101-78453-1gnjuck.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=671&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">Grattan Institute Orange Book 2018</a></span>
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<h2>While most states are going backwards</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, in most states taxes have became less efficient over the past five years. </p>
<p>Booming property prices in Sydney and Melbourne inflated stamp duties, giving them a growing share of the tax base in NSW and Victoria. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=379&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=379&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=379&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=476&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=476&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243367/original/file-20181101-78447-1pk0y6g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=476&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Average excess burden of taxation cents per dollar of tax revenue collected in each state and territory (2006-2016)</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">Grattan Institute Orange book 2008</a></span>
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<h2>They should copy the ACT</h2>
<p>All state treasurers should <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/following-the-act-land-tax-approach-boosts-growth-and-state-budgets/">follow the lead</a> of the ACT and replace stamp duties with broad-based property taxes. </p>
<p>Our calculations suggest that doing so could make Australians up to $17 billion a year better off, while also <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/housing-tax-reform-what-difference-will-it-make/">making housing more affordable</a>.</p>
<p>And stamp duties are unfair. They make some families pay more tax than others simply because they move home more often. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/infrastructure-splurge-ignores-smarter-ways-to-keep-growing-cities-moving-105051">Infrastructure splurge ignores smarter ways to keep growing cities moving</a>
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<p>An annual flat tax <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SA-Federalism-and-Tax-Future-Directions-for-Property-Tax-Reform-for-web-28-August-2017.pdf">set at between A$5 and A$7</a> for every A$1,000 of unimproved land value would be enough to fund the abolition of property stamp duties. </p>
<h2>Which won’t be easy</h2>
<p>Proposals to make the switch have stalled <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SA-Federalism-and-Tax-Future-Directions-for-Property-Tax-Reform-for-web-28-August-2017.pdf">because the politics is hard</a>. </p>
<p>Recent purchasers would be reluctant to pay an annual tax so soon after paying stamp duty. A property tax would pose difficulties for people who are asset-rich but income-poor, especially retirees. </p>
<p>And property taxes cause angst: quarterly property tax bills remind people that they are taxpayers more often than does a one-off stamp duty with each purchase.</p>
<p>So state treasurers should make the switch gradually, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/following-the-act-land-tax-approach-boosts-growth-and-state-budgets/">as in the ACT</a>: slowly wind back stamp duty and ramp up broad-based property tax over time. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/australias-dangerous-fantasy-diverting-population-growth-to-the-regions-105052">Australia's dangerous fantasy: diverting population growth to the regions</a>
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<p>It would provide the states with an increasingly stable revenue stream while reducing the disparity between those who bought a home just before the change and just afterwards. </p>
<p>To ensure that asset-rich but income-poor households could stay in their homes, state treasurers would have to allow them to defer paying the levy (with interest) until they sell their properties.</p>
<h2>And they should axe insurance tax</h2>
<p>State treasurers should also replace state taxes on property, life, health and motor vehicle insurance with a broad-based property levy. Most states have already abolished insurance levies to fund fire and emergency services. </p>
<p>Insurance taxes <a href="http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/FinalReport.aspx?doc=html/Publications/Papers/Final_Report_Part_2/chapter_e8.htm">deter</a> people and businesses from buying adequate insurance, leaving them <a href="https://theconversation.com/properties-under-fire-why-so-many-australians-are-inadequately-insured-against-disaster-50588">exposed to risks</a> such as flood or fire damage to their home, or motor vehicle theft. </p>
<h2>And charge for rezoning</h2>
<p>And state treasurers should <a href="http://www.planning.act.gov.au/topics/design-and-build/fees/change_of_use_charge_-_lease_variation_charge">follow another ACT lead</a> and introduce explicit “betterment taxes” to capture some of the windfall gains from rezoning of land. </p>
<p>Government permission to build higher-density housing, or convert farmland into greenfield housing land, generates large unearned windfall gains for landowners. </p>
<p>Taxing these windfall gains would be a particularly efficient form of taxation, would reduce the opportunities for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/in-the-zone-insider-trading-rife-in-land-rezoning-racket-20150929-gjx8nh.html">corruption</a> in the planning system, and would enable state treasurers to reduce other more economically harmful and regressive taxes.</p>
<h2>And apply payroll tax widely</h2>
<p>Finally, state payroll taxes should be broadened by abolishing carve-outs for small businesses. </p>
<p>This would enable state treasurers to cut payroll tax rates across the board.</p>
<p>Generous thresholds and exemptions have weakened states’ payroll tax bases and <a href="https://www.murphyeconomics.com.au/Information/tax/ATF_Vol.33-1_2018_Murphy.pdf">increased</a> the economic costs of the tax. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/grattan-institute-orange-book-2018-state-governments-matter-vote-wisely-105376">Grattan Institute Orange Book 2018. State governments matter, vote wisely</a>
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<p>Astoundingly, around 90% of NSW businesses <a href="http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/FinalReport.aspx?doc=html/publications/Papers/Final_Report_Part_2/chapter_d3-2.htm">are exempt</a> from payroll tax.</p>
<p>We believe that, taken together, this set of reforms would make a big difference to economic growth. </p>
<p>Voters might even reward the treasurers and their premiers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105378/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website.
The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Coates and Tony Chen do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Grattan Institute says swapping stamp duty for land tax would make Australians up to $17 billion a year better off.Brendan Coates, Fellow, Grattan InstituteJohn Daley, Chief Executive Officer, Grattan InstituteTony Chen, Researcher, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1057402018-10-31T18:54:42Z2018-10-31T18:54:42ZState governments can transform Australia’s energy policy from major fail to reliable success<p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
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<p>Energy policy in Australia is a major failure. The federal government has been unable to forge an effective policy to ensure affordable, reliable and low-emissions electricity. It’s time for the states to step up. </p>
<p>Internationally, responsibility for climate change policies rests with national governments. The federal government says it remains committed to <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-2030-climate-target-puts-us-in-the-race-but-at-the-back-45931">Australia’s target</a> under the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">Paris Agreement</a>, but it has <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/coalition-votes-down-coag-push-to-keep-climate-on-energy-policy-agenda-16324/">abandoned</a> the emissions-reduction obligation of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/infographic-the-national-energy-guarantee-at-a-glance-85832">National Energy Guarantee (NEG)</a>. This leaves Australia’s electricity sector, which is responsible for <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/63391569-7ffa-4395-b245-e53893158566/files/nggi-quarterly-update-mar-2018.pdf">34% of our overall emissions</a>, with no credible policy to reduce those emissions. </p>
<p>The states should fill this policy vacuum if it persists. They should work together on a nationwide emissions reduction scheme through state-based legislation, independent of the federal government. A Commonwealth-led national policy would be best, but a state-based policy is far better than none.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/the-too-hard-basket-a-short-history-of-australias-aborted-climate-policies-101812">The too hard basket: a short history of Australia's aborted climate policies</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In October 2018 the <a href="http://coagenergycouncil.gov.au/publications/20th-energy-council-ministerial-meeting-communiqu%C3%A9">COAG Energy Council agreed</a> to continue work on the reliability element of the NEG. The states and territories should maintain this support and implement this policy with the Commonwealth government, and so support the reliability of the <a href="https://www.aemo.com.au/Electricity/National-Electricity-Market-NEM">National Electricity Market</a> during a challenging transition.</p>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a> shows that there is also much the states can do to reduce energy prices. Consumers are understandably upset – household retail prices have increased by more than half in the past decade, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (see page 7 <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Retail%20Electricity%20Pricing%20Inquiry%E2%80%94Final%20Report%20June%202018_0.pdf">here</a>). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=533&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=533&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243156/original/file-20181031-76413-1hx1njx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=533&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How your state measures up on energy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The federal government is certainly focused on price – Prime Minister Scott Morrison has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-26/scott-morrison-announces-new-cabinet-after-julie-bishop-quits/10166300">referred</a> to Energy Minister Angus Taylor as the “minister for getting electricity prices down” – but many important pricing policies depend on state action. </p>
<p>Retail pricing is the obvious example. Poorly regulated retail electricity markets have <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/price-shock/">not delivered for consumers</a>. Retail margins are higher than would be expected in a truly competitive market. Many consumers find the market so <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-need-a-phd-to-read-your-power-bill-buying-wisely-is-all-but-impossible-98617">complicated</a> they give up trying to understand it. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/a-high-price-for-policy-failure-the-ten-year-story-of-spiralling-electricity-bills-89450">A high price for policy failure: the ten-year story of spiralling electricity bills</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>State governments should work alongside the federal government to help consumers navigate the retail “confusopoly”. Governments should require retailers to help consumers compare offers and get the best deal. They should also stop retailers using excessive pay-on-time discounts (which tend to confuse rather than help consumers and can trap lower-income households), and ensure vulnerable customers do not pay high prices. </p>
<p>However, governments should <a href="https://theconversation.com/capping-electricity-prices-a-quick-fix-with-hidden-risks-101981">resist the temptation</a> to use price caps as a quick fix. If set too low, price caps could reduce competition and drive longer-term price increases. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/capping-electricity-prices-a-quick-fix-with-hidden-risks-101981">Capping electricity prices: a quick fix with hidden risks</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, which have not yet adopted retail competition, should move in that direction – while learning from the mistakes of others.</p>
<p>Network costs make up the biggest share of the electricity bill for most households (see page 8 <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Retail%20Electricity%20Pricing%20Inquiry%E2%80%94Final%20Report%20June%202018_0.pdf">here</a>) and some small businesses. This is particularly an issue in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania, where network values <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/down-to-the-wire/">increased substantially under public ownership</a> and those costs were passed on to consumers. </p>
<p>These states should write down the value of their overvalued networks or provide rebates to consumers, so the price of the networks is more closely aligned to the value they provide to consumers. Given the poor performance of publicly owned networks, any network businesses still in government hands should be privatised. </p>
<p>Responsibility for setting network reliability requirements should be transferred to the <a href="https://www.aer.gov.au/">Australian Energy Regulator</a> to prevent risk-averse state governments from imposing <a href="https://theconversation.com/amid-blackout-scare-stories-remember-that-a-grid-without-power-cuts-is-impossible-and-expensive-102115">excessive reliability standards</a>, which would drive up network costs again. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/amid-blackout-scare-stories-remember-that-a-grid-without-power-cuts-is-impossible-and-expensive-102115">Amid blackout scare stories, remember that a grid without power cuts is impossible... and expensive</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Until recently, it seemed state governments had learned the lessons from the bad old days of <a href="https://theconversation.com/policy-overload-why-the-accc-says-household-solar-subsidies-should-be-abolished-99937">excessively generous subsidies</a> for rooftop solar. That was until August 2018, when the Victorian government <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/cutting-power-bills-with-solar-panels-for-650000-homes/">committed more than A$1 billion</a> to pay half the cost of solar panels for eligible households and provide an interest-free loan for the remainder. Most of these systems would pay for themselves without subsidy. The Victorian government should abandon this waste of taxpayers’ money. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/policy-overload-why-the-accc-says-household-solar-subsidies-should-be-abolished-99937">Policy overload: why the ACCC says household solar subsidies should be abolished</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, Australia’s gas market is adding to the price pain of homes and businesses. As <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/east-coast-gas-market-conditions-have-eased-but-more-gas-required-to-lower-prices">international prices rise</a>, there is no easy way to avoid some painful decisions. But some state policies are making matters worse. </p>
<p>The Victorian and Tasmanian governments’ moratoria on gas exploration and development constrain supply and drive up prices. The moratoria should be lifted. Instead, these states should give case-by-case approval to gas development projects, with safeguards against specific risks. </p>
<p>Australia needs reliable, affordable electricity to underpin our 21st-century economic prosperity. That must be protected while we also decarbonise the energy sector.</p>
<p>Energy market reform was at the forefront of national competition policy in the mid to late 1990s. But reform has since slowed, and the states are partly responsible. The states can rekindle the fire by pursuing a clear, nationally consistent action plan for affordable, reliable and low-emissions electricity.</p>
<p>Australia’s households and businesses – and the environment – are relying on the states to step up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation. The Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website.</span></em></p>The federal government is primarily to blame for the mess that is Australia's energy policy. It's time for the states to step up, to reduce both prices and emissions.Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan InstituteGuy Dundas, Energy Fellow, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050502018-10-31T02:25:54Z2018-10-31T02:25:54ZTo make housing more affordable this is what state governments need to do<p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>House prices might now be falling, but Australians’ <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/house-prices-might-be-falling-but-our-anxiety-isn-t-20181019-p50atj.html">anxiety over housing affordability is not</a>. Price falls of a few percentage points in Sydney and Melbourne are cold comfort to first home buyers. They are <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/domain-property-reports/">still paying</a> 50% more than they would have five years ago. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.afr.com/real-estate/house-prices-to-fall-15-per-cent-morgan-stanley-20181010-h16ha7">Further price falls</a> are likely, but even then housing will still be less affordable than it was two decades ago.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-poorer-australians-bearing-the-brunt-of-rising-housing-costs-87003">Three charts on: poorer Australians bearing the brunt of rising housing costs</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Home ownership rates are declining across Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-charts-on-poorer-australians-bearing-the-brunt-of-rising-housing-costs-87003">especially among the young and the poor</a>. An increasing proportion of low-income earners are in rental stress in all states except Queensland and Tasmania.</p>
<h2>STATE HOUSING SCORECARD</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=550&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=550&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=550&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=692&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=692&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242877/original/file-20181030-76408-5p1un3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=692&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018, Table 5.1</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The required policy response remains the same. As Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">State Orange Book 2018</a> shows, state governments need to ensure a lot more housing is built. </p>
<h2>What has happened to housing?</h2>
<p>Australia’s population is growing rapidly. Our cities have not kept up, so there is less housing per person. The primary obstacle <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/901-Housing-affordability.pdf">appears to be planning rules</a> that delay or prevent development. </p>
<p><strong>All states except Tasmania have less housing per person than a decade ago</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=441&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=441&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=441&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=555&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=555&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242875/original/file-20181030-76408-j7fsag.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=555&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018, Figure 5.1</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland governments have all <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/housing-affordability-re-imagining-the-australian-dream/">changed</a> planning rules and processes over the past five years or so. This has resulted in new building finally catching up with population growth, even if a significant backlog remains. </p>
<p>The extra supply has already contributed to flattening rents and <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/product/house-price-report-september-2018/">falling apartment prices</a> in Brisbane. It will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australian-house-price-falls-ubs-rba-negative-sentiment-2018-10">help push rents and prices lower</a> in Sydney and Melbourne as well.</p>
<p>But today’s record level of housing construction is the bare minimum needed to match <a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-is-australias-population-the-highest-growing-in-the-world-96523">rapid population growth</a> largely <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-migration-affects-housing-affordability-92502">driven by immigration</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/how-migration-affects-housing-affordability-92502">How migration affects housing affordability</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>And yet authorities in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/terrace-housing-backflipcouncils-density-code-20180517-p4zfyj.html.">NSW</a> and <a href="https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/backyardblitz-in-new-blueprint-for-brisbane-20180608-p4zk8z.html">Queensland</a> are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-01/hendrie-the-triumph-of-the-nimby-in-urban-planning/3704744">responding to NIMBY pressures</a> by making it harder to increase density. In the Victorian election campaign, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy is <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/coalition-promises-to-rein-in-development-on-melbourne-s-leafy-streets-20180618-p4zm4t.html">promising to do the same</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Record housing construction will need to be maintained to meet city plan housing targets</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=558&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=558&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=558&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=701&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=701&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242873/original/file-20181030-76390-1vinopr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=701&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018, Figure 5.2</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What should governments do?</h2>
<p>Resisting higher-density development is the wrong response. To enable more homes to be built in inner and middle-ring suburbs of our largest cities, state governments should:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Introduce a new small redevelopment housing code. It would protect neighbours, reduce planning uncertainty and improve the quality of new developments. The code would include the things that worry neighbours the most, such as privacy, height and overshadowing. </p></li>
<li><p>Allow taller developments of four to eight storeys “<a href="https://www.irwinlaw.com/cold/as-of-right">as of right</a>” on major transport corridors and around train stations.</p></li>
<li><p>Set housing targets for each local council. The targets should be linked to plans for the growth of the city as a whole. Where councils fail to meet planning targets, independent planning panels should step in. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The best evidence is that building an extra 50,000 homes a year for a decade could leave Australian house prices <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/supply-sceptics-beware-without-more-housing-it-wont-be-affordable/">5-20% lower</a> than what they would have been otherwise, stem rising public anxiety about housing affordability, and increase economic growth.</p>
<h2>Reform tenancy rules</h2>
<p>As well as boosting supply, state governments should make renting more attractive by changing residential tenancy laws to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-insecurity-of-private-renters-how-do-they-manage-it-77324">increase the security of renters</a> and help renters make their property feel like their home. The Victorian government recently <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/melbourne-vic/new-rental-laws-pass-victorian-parliament-strengthening-tenants-rights/news-story/164012c73122065d353885daed660999">tipped the balance</a> more towards tenants. Other state governments should follow suit.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/an-open-letter-on-rental-housing-reform-103825">An open letter on rental housing reform</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Of course, changes in tenancy laws in favour of renters could reduce the supply of rental housing and increase rents, but any such effects are likely to be vanishingly small. More likely some investors will sell their properties to first home buyers, which means one less rental property and one less renter. </p>
<h2>Boost the public housing supply</h2>
<p>The housing affordability crisis has made life particularly hard for low-income earners. There is a powerful case for extra public support for the most vulnerable Australians. But not all policies will be equally effective.</p>
<p>Boosting social housing will be expensive. Increasing the stock by 100,000 dwellings – broadly sufficient to return social housing to its historical share of the total housing stock – would require extra public funding of <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/the-conventional-wisdom-is-wrong-building-more-housing-does-help-low-income-earners/">around A$900 million a year</a>, or an upfront capital cost of between A$10 billion and A$15 billion. </p>
<p>Even then social housing would house only one-third of the poorest 20% of Australians. Most low-income Australians would remain in the private rental market. </p>
<p>The big problem is that there is not enough “flow” of social housing available for people whose lives take a big turn for the worse. Tenants generally take a long time to leave social housing; most have <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/housing-assistance-in-australia-2017/contents/social-housing-tenants">stayed more than five years</a></p>
<p>To overcome these issues, governments should build more social housing, and tightly target it to people most at risk of becoming homeless for the long term. Extra support for the housing costs of low-income earners should otherwise be delivered primarily by <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-if-labor-really-wanted-to-help-women-in-retirement-it-would-do-something-else-103603">boosting Commonwealth Rent Assistance</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/super-if-labor-really-wanted-to-help-women-in-retirement-it-would-do-something-else-103603">Super. If Labor really wanted to help women in retirement, it would do something else</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Stop offering false hope</h2>
<p>State governments also need to stop offering false hope. Even though policies such as first home owners’ grants have proved ineffective time after time, they were the centrepieces of the <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/news/housing-affordability-package-gives-voters-what-they-want-but-not-what-they-need/">housing plans of NSW and Victoria</a> announced last year. Inevitably these are really second home sellers’ incentives: the biggest winners are people who own homes already, and property developers with new homes ready to sell.</p>
<p>Similarly, state governments shouldn’t claim that housing and business incentives and regional transport projects will divert a lot of population growth to the regions. Such policies <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-dangerous-fantasy-diverting-population-growth-to-the-regions-105052">haven’t made much difference in the past</a>. And they provide excuses not to make the tough calls on planning.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Baca juga:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/australias-dangerous-fantasy-diverting-population-growth-to-the-regions-105052">Australia's dangerous fantasy: diverting population growth to the regions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>None of the policies recommended in our <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a> are easy politically. But Australians need to face up to a harsh truth: either people accept greater density in their suburb, or their children will not be able to buy a home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website.
The State Orange Book, from which this article is drawn, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Coates dan Tony Chen tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>Governments should stop offering false hopes and pandering to NIMBY pressures. As well as increased public and private housing supply, growing cities need well-designed higher-density development.John Daley, Chief Executive Officer, Grattan InstituteBrendan Coates, Fellow, Grattan InstituteTony Chen, Researcher, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1052132018-10-30T18:57:40Z2018-10-30T18:57:40ZNo state has all the answers in school education<p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
<hr>
<p>School education in Australia is generally good, but it should be better. </p>
<p>The federal government provides about one-third of total funding for school education, but it’s state and territory governments that run schools. State government policy is therefore a key lever for lifting student outcomes. </p>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">State Orange Book 2018</a> shows how state and territory governments are performing on the issues that matter to Australians, and what they should do to improve.</p>
<h2>Where we are</h2>
<p>No set of metrics can cover everything that matters in schooling. For this report, we chose four metrics that provide a high-level snapshot and highlight some important differences among states:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>student progress (learning growth) in primary school, taking account of differences in school advantage</p></li>
<li><p>the proportion of students achieving at high levels in Year 9 NAPLAN reading and numeracy</p></li>
<li><p>the proportion of students at or below the national minimum standard in Year 9 NAPLAN reading and numeracy</p></li>
<li><p>government funding to state government schools as a proportion of their funding target.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Student progress and achievement are two sides of the same coin. Progress is the best way to understand how much schools contribute to learning. Achievement in Year 9 reflects what students can do as they get closer to leaving school.</p>
<p>The picture that emerges from these metrics is nuanced. </p>
<p>Queensland was the star performer in primary school progress, but its Year 9 achievement was some way below the highest-performing states. </p>
<p>New South Wales and Western Australia were good at supporting high-achieving students in secondary school. They also reduced the proportion of Year 9 students who were at or below minimum standards. But the rate at which their students learn in primary school was middle-of-the-pack.</p>
<p>The ACT performed well in Year 9 NAPLAN, largely due to its relatively advantaged population. But on a like-for-like basis, ACT students made two to three months less progress than the national average in primary school. Our recent <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/measuring-student-progress/">Measuring Student Progress</a> report showed the same is true in secondary school.</p>
<p>In 2017, Victoria spent the least on its government schools. Does this mean Victoria is more efficient than other states? That’s a hard argument to make when it didn’t out-perform in the other three metrics. </p>
<p>South Australia needs to lift its game; it performed below average on the outcome and equity metrics, whether or not socioeconomic advantage was taken into account.</p>
<p>Tasmania and the Northern Territory both performed better than expected in primary school, once their socioeconomic disadvantage was taken into account. But they still have the highest proportion of students at or below the Year 9 national minimum standard, perpetuating intergenerational disadvantage.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/will-sorting-classrooms-by-ability-improve-marks-it-depends-on-the-mix-94172">Will sorting classrooms by ability improve marks? It depends on the mix</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Where we should be</h2>
<p>School education in Australia needs to improve in three distinct ways.</p>
<p>First, we need to improve the teaching of core academic skills. Content still matters, even in the era of Google. Mastering content helps underpin more advanced abilities such as the ability to appraise and apply knowledge. </p>
<p>Second, we must go beyond traditional academic skills and content. </p>
<p>Skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, resilience and initiative are important in preparing young Australians for their lives after school. We need to figure out how best to measure and teach these skills. </p>
<p>Third, we need to reduce the gaps between the educational haves and have-nots.</p>
<p>Looking beneath the headline metrics, the students making the slowest progress in every state are those in the most disadvantaged schools. And, as we showed in our 2016 report <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/widening-gaps/">Widening Gaps</a>, the students who miss out most are bright children in disadvantaged schools. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-naplan-scores-teach-children-philosophy-64536">Want to improve NAPLAN scores? Teach children philosophy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to get there</h2>
<p>There are pockets of great teaching practice across Australia, but also pockets where teaching needs to be more effective. We should build on what is working best, as well as learning lessons from overseas.</p>
<p>To lift teaching effectiveness, state governments need to create <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/towards-an-adaptive-education-system-in-australia/">adaptive education systems</a> that enable continuous improvement by design, not by chance. This means getting much better at <em>selecting</em> and <em>spreading</em> what works best.</p>
<p>The goal is not for all teachers to teach the same material in the same way, but for all teachers to use practices that have been shown to work, and to adapt them to meet the needs of their students.</p>
<p>To work this way, teachers need better data on the learning progress of each of their students, as well as their achievement. State governments can help by making it easier for teachers to identify high-quality classroom assessment tools and resources.</p>
<p>State governments should also create explicit jobs for top teachers, to use their subject expertise to spread effective practice within and across schools. Simply reading about what works is not enough to improve teaching; teachers need to see good practice in action, try new ways of working, and get specific feedback. </p>
<p>Most states have tried coaching programs, but they often chop and change, and coaches are not always subject experts. We need a much more systematic approach.</p>
<p>At the same time as investing in supporting front-line teachers, states should work on strengthening the evidence base about what works well in the classroom. This includes randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental approaches that confirm whether a promising teaching approach really delivers the goods. It also includes better information about what practices are being used in classrooms today.</p>
<p>State education departments need to develop new ways to work – neither centrally controlled nor fully devolved – if they’re to become truly adaptive. Adaptive improvement is happening in schools all over Australia. But too often it is disconnected and led by individuals who may move on, rather than being part of the normal way of working. </p>
<p>At the moment, no state or territory has all the answers. Each should learn from the others and do better, in pursuit of a national imperative: providing the best education for all children.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/why-poor-kids-continue-to-do-poorly-in-the-education-game-23500">Why poor kids continue to do poorly in the education game</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105213/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activitiesnisation. The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Sonnemann is a Board Member on the Song Room.</span></em></p>School education in Australia is generally good, but it should be better.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteJulie Sonnemann, Research Fellow, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1048622018-10-30T02:58:44Z2018-10-30T02:58:44ZWaiting for better care: why Australia’s hospitals and health care are failing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242387/original/file-20181025-71038-17bngcx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Health is the largest single component of state government expenditure.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/245905492?src=jhlWisgjKa449M1gf5-h5A-1-61&amp;size=huge_jpg">Shutterstock/hxdbzxy</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This week we’re exploring nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s State Orange Book 2018. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia has a good health system by international standards, but it has to get better. Half of all patients across Australia wait more than a month for an elective hospital procedure, such as a hip replacement. This is in addition to waiting for an outpatient visit so they can be added to the elective procedure wait list. </p>
<p>“Elective” here doesn’t mean the patient can do without the procedure – they may be in pain or having trouble moving around while waiting. Elective simply means it doesn’t have to be done immediately and can be scheduled.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/to-keep-patients-safe-in-hospitals-the-accreditation-system-needs-an-overhaul-101513">To keep patients safe in hospitals, the accreditation system needs an overhaul</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>About 9% of people in New South Wales and about 25% in South Australia wait more than a year for public dental services, such as fillings, extractions and root canals. </p>
<p>Physicians report nearly one-third of patients with an acute mental illness wait more than eight hours in hospital emergency departments.</p>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">State Orange Book 2018</a> charts the performance, maps a route to improvement, and recommends penalties for states that fail to meet waiting list targets. </p>
<h2>Why hospitals are always key state election issues</h2>
<p>Health is the largest single component of state government expenditure in every state of Australia, and <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/budget-pressures-on-australian-governments-2014/">has been growing rapidly</a>. About two-thirds of <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/health-welfare-expenditure/health-expenditure-australia-2015-16/contents/summary">state government health spending</a> – excluding transfers from the Commonwealth – is on public hospitals. </p>
<p>Just over half the population does not have health insurance and so relies on public hospitals for all their care. Even for people with private insurance, public hospitals are their principal source of emergency care. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=449&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=449&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=449&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=565&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=565&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242391/original/file-20181025-71017-1e527cl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=565&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even Australians with private health insurance use public emergency departments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/270431723?src=CRCnZ-2UKKWBIUb0mQBTmg-1-12&amp;size=huge_jpg">Annette Shaff/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>State governments are responsible for public hospitals, so hospital care is always a key issue in state elections. It is therefore no surprise state governments love to tell us how much they are doing for public hospitals, and election campaigns are often jam-packed with promises of new or expanded hospitals.</p>
<p>The politicians, at least in states with growing populations, are right that more beds are needed. What matters for the public, though, is not how many beds there are, but whether there are enough. One way of measuring that is waiting times, and here the picture isn’t as rosy as campaigning politicians would like us to believe.</p>
<h2>Waiting for elective hospital procedures</h2>
<p>It’s bad enough half of all patients across Australia wait more than a month for an elective procedure from the time they were booked. What’s worse is that about 10% wait more than six months. </p>
<p>In our smallest state, Tasmania, 10% of patients wait about a year. In the biggest state, NSW, the situation is almost as bad. </p>
<p><strong>This graph shows the waiting time (days) for elective procedures, 2012-13 to 2016-17, for the 10% of patients who wait longest (orange) and the median (maroon):</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=393&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=393&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=393&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=494&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=494&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242860/original/file-20181030-76384-o3lxkt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=494&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute/Australian Institute of Health and Welfare</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Publicly reported data focus on elective procedure or elective surgery waiting times, but there is another important wait: from the time a patient is referred to the hospital to the time they are seen in an outpatient clinic. This is sometimes called the <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-an-initial-specialists-appointment-is-the-hidden-waitlist-99507">“hidden waiting list”</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/getting-an-initial-specialists-appointment-is-the-hidden-waitlist-99507">Getting an initial specialists' appointment is the hidden waitlist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For the patient, the wait for an appointment with an outpatient clinic matters – it delays diagnosis and treatment. Yet these waits are not publicly reported in NSW, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory. And the states that do report outpatient clinic wait times do not use consistent measures. </p>
<p>Our state and territory governments should strengthen hospital accountability to reduce combined outpatient and inpatient waiting times. There should be clear consequences and penalties for failure to meet targets.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=450&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242392/original/file-20181025-71026-19w3hop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=566&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">First you have to wait to get on the waiting list. Then you get booked in for your procedure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/counting-down-days-calendar-110130863?src=e7fmSXAl-CJ1LfyBpfMKeg-1-2">Shutterstock/cvm</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Waiting for public dental care</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.coaghealthcouncil.gov.au/Portals/0/Australia%27s%20National%20Oral%20Health%20Plan%202015-2024_uploaded%20170216.pdf">COAG Health Council</a> (made up of Commonwealth, state and territory health officials) says current funding for public dental services allows for treatment of only about 20% of the eligible population. </p>
<p>The remaining 80% have to wait for long periods, pay for relatively expensive care in the private sector, or go without care entirely.</p>
<p>Waiting times vary significantly among states. And in several states, notably Vic and SA, <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2018/health/primary-and-community-health">waiting times have got longer in recent years</a>.</p>
<p>Boosting public dental services will improve people’s health and reduce the strain on hospitals. </p>
<p>In 2015-16, there were <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/acee86da-d98e-4286-85a4-52840836706f/aihw-hse-201.pdf.aspx?inline=true">67,266 hospital admissions for potentially preventable dental conditions</a> – more than one-fifth of all hospital admissions for potentially preventable acute conditions.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/poor-and-elderly-australians-let-down-by-ailing-primary-health-system-100586">Poor and elderly Australians let down by ailing primary health system</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Unforgivably, our state governments have not delivered on a 2012 commitment to monitor waiting times for public dental care through a National Healthcare Agreement performance indicator. Data inconsistencies mean it is <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/df234a9a-5c47-4483-9cf7-15ce162d3461/aihw-den-230.pdf.aspx?inline=true">not possible to reliably compare public dental waiting lists</a> across states and territories. </p>
<p>NSW does not provide data on public dental waiting lists at all, citing concerns about the potential for misleading comparisons. The only comparable data we have is from an Australian Bureau of Statistics sample survey, which shows more than 10% of patients across the country wait more than a year for public dental care. </p>
<p><strong>This graph shows the proportion of people who waited more than a year for public dental services:</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=391&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=391&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=391&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=491&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=491&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242862/original/file-20181030-76402-11wzj6r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=491&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Notes: The figures in smaller states should be regarded as approximate; the percentages are of those who have been seen, and do not include those still waiting at the time of the survey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute/Australian Bureau of Statistics</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Waiting for mental health care</h2>
<p>Campaigners say Australia has reached a “tipping point” on access to mental health care. Physicians report nearly one-third of patients with an acute mental illness wait more than eight hours in emergency departments. </p>
<p>We know this does damage: long waits for access to community mental health services can result in poorer outcomes for patients, as a condition may be harder to control the longer it persists. Long waits may also place additional pressure on families or friends who face the consequences of their friend or family member’s behaviour. </p>
<p>Yet there is no information about the adequacy of community mental health services in Australia. The 2017 <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/mental-fifth-national-mental-health-plan">National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan</a> only tracks the use of services, not their adequacy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/more-australians-can-stay-healthier-and-out-of-hospital-heres-how-55746">More Australians can stay healthier and out of hospital – here's how</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In contrast, Canadian governments have agreed that a <a href="http://www.highperforminghealthcaresystems.com/content/25550">wide range of mental health and addictions indicators</a> will be collected and reported from 2019. </p>
<p>Australian voters should demand their state governments do the same thing. We should wait no longer for a better health system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104862/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website. The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.</span></em></p>Australians are waiting too long for elective surgery, dental care and treatment for mental health. It's no wonder health is a vote-changer.Stephen Duckett, Director, Health Program, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050512018-10-29T19:10:37Z2018-10-29T19:10:37ZInfrastructure splurge ignores smarter ways to keep growing cities moving<p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s already started. We may be only entering the formal election campaign in Victoria <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_state_election,_2018">tonight</a>, but massive transport announcements are in full swing from the state Labor government, the Coalition opposition and the Greens. And with an election due next March in New South Wales, we can be sure the major parties in that state won’t be far behind.</p>
<p>Expanding the capacity of the transport network always gets far more attention than other ways of managing a fast-growing population. In reality, though, governments have a far bigger menu of options to keep Australia’s capital cities moving – and they should use them all.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/we-hardly-ever-trust-big-transport-announcements-heres-how-politicians-get-it-right-101246">We hardly ever trust big transport announcements – here's how politicians get it right</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Big spending promises all round</h2>
<p>The swag of promises in Victoria to date has been big on rail. The Andrews government would, if returned, build a 90km <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b46af5a55b02cea2a648e93/t/5b84f70f88251b6aa6f607b8/1535440660600/180828-Underground-Suburban-Rail-Loop-To-Connect-Victoria.pdf">suburban rail loop</a> connecting all major suburban lines. Work is to start in 2022 at an announced cost of A$50 billion. </p>
<p>A Matthew Guy-led Coalition government would, if elected, build <a href="https://vic.liberal.org.au/News/2018-10-03/high-speed-rail-for-victoria">high-speed-rail to regional cities</a>. The first trains would come into operation within four years, at an announced cost of A$15-19 billion. </p>
<p>And the Greens? They would <a href="http://www.railpage.com.au/news/s/greens-call-for-more-melbourne-trains">upgrade suburban rail signalling and add 100 extra high-capacity trains</a>, at a cost of A$8.5 billion.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/missing-evidence-base-for-big-calls-on-infrastructure-costs-us-all-99080">Missing evidence base for big calls on infrastructure costs us all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If talkback radio is any guide, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-22/melbourne-50-billion-dollar-rail-loop-planning-questioned/10385702">these plans are popular</a>. People love the idea of a magnificent new rail system that perhaps they’ll use or, more likely, that they hope all those people who currently clog up the roads will use instead. After all, Melbourne is a very car-dependent city. And, with <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/909-Remarkably-adaptive-Australian-cities-in-a-time-of-growth-high-res.pdf">three-quarters of all the jobs dispersed all over the city</a>, that’s unlikely to change much any time soon.</p>
<p>People also love big new infrastructure because it feels as though it comes for free. While a politician may have to pick just one from a menu of large projects, voters don’t have to confront this kind of choice.</p>
<p>Rather, we face the difference between a new station or service near our home, or no such new station or service. If you are the beneficiary of a new rail service, you may support the candidate promising it. By contrast, the losers are dispersed, and it’s hard to get too agitated about services we never had.</p>
<h2>Look more closely at what is happening</h2>
<p>But new transport infrastructure is far from the only way to cope with population growth. Even though Melbourne has had extremely high population growth, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/909-Remarkably-adaptive-Australian-cities-in-a-time-of-growth-high-res.pdf">averaging 2.3% a year</a> over the five years to 2016, <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-fast-growing-cities-and-their-people-are-proving-to-be-remarkably-adaptable-103992">commuting distances and times have remained remarkably stable</a>. </p>
<p>The median commute distance for Melburnians barely increased, from 8.6km to 8.7km, over the five years to the most recent Census in 2016. The median commute time has remained at 30 minutes each way since 2007.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=454&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=454&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=454&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=571&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=571&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238255/original/file-20180927-48647-130ec46.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=571&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Notes: Working-age respondents to the Hilda Survey report commuting times for a typical week. These are converted here to times for an individual trip. BITRE (2016) finds that the travel times HILDA respondents report closely match other measures of travel times, further supported by Grattan analysis of Transport for Victoria (2018).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: Grattan analysis of HILDA (2016)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/our-fast-growing-cities-and-their-people-are-proving-to-be-remarkably-adaptable-103992">Our fast-growing cities and their people are proving to be remarkably adaptable</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These stable commute times and distances have coincided with a period of only limited new infrastructure construction. Victoria’s additions – <a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/report/assessing-benefits-regional-rail-link-project?section=32786">Regional Rail Link</a>, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/auditor-hits-2b-road-project-20110601-1fgpe.html">Peninsula Link</a> and the <a href="https://infrastructurepipeline.org/project/m80-ring-road-upgrade/">M80 Ring Road</a> – are modest compared to Queensland and NSW’s. The road stock in Melbourne <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/909-Remarkably-adaptive-Australian-cities-in-a-time-of-growth-high-res.pdf">increased by 4.3% over the five years to 2015, significantly less than the population increase of 11.9%</a>. </p>
<p>The A$1.3 billion <a href="http://citylinktullawidening.vic.gov.au/about">CityLink Tullamarine widening project</a> finished recently, and the A$8.3 billion <a href="https://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au/">level crossing removal project</a> is more than half-completed, but these projects are too new to explain the remarkable stability of commutes over the period of booming population.</p>
<p>Despite only modest new infrastructure, people have adapted. Some have changed job or worksite, and working from home is on the rise. Some people moved house, or even left the city. And some changed their method of travel, leaving the car at home and catching the train, tram or bus to work. Other people simply accepted a longer commute, at least for a time, and particularly if they were earning more. </p>
<p>Of course, not everyone is better off when the population grows rapidly. Some people elect not to take a new job that’s too far from home; some pay higher rent, or cannot afford a place they once could have. But the lesson from Melbourne is that people are not hapless victims of population growth, depending for their well-being on governments building the next freeway or rail extension.</p>
<h2>So what are the best ways to help cities cope?</h2>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/state-orange-book-2018/">State Orange Book 2018</a> recommends that governments work with, not against, the adaptations that people make. Here are three ways state governments can help:</p>
<ol>
<li>They should stop making it so hard to move house, by replacing stamp duty with a broad-based land tax. </li>
<li>They should stop locking new residents out of their preferred locations, by combining a relaxation of zoning restrictions on residential density with clear assignment of on-street parking rights.</li>
<li>The incoming governments of Victoria and NSW should introduce time-of-day road congestion charges in the most congested parts of Melbourne and Sydney (offset by a cut to vehicle registration fees), with the funds earmarked for public transport improvements.</li>
</ol>
<p>Let’s see what the vying parties can do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities. The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.
</span></em></p>In the election bidding wars, parties commit billions to transport projects, often before all the work needed to justify these has been done. More cost-effective alternatives hardly get a look-in.Marion Terrill, Transport Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1050522018-10-29T02:40:55Z2018-10-29T02:40:55ZAustralia's dangerous fantasy: diverting population growth to the regions<p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
<hr>
<p>A dangerous fantasy is taking hold in Australia: that government policy can <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/skilled-migrants-to-spend-at-least-a-few-years-in-regional-australia-under-morrison-s-population-plan">divert population growth from our bulging capital cities to our needy regions</a>. It’s a fantasy because a century of Australian history shows it won’t work. And it’s dangerous because it gives governments an excuse to avoid the hard decisions on planning and transport needed to make housing more affordable and cities more liveable.</p>
<p>Since Federation, state and federal governments have tried to lure people, trade and business away from the capital cities. These efforts have mostly been expensive policy failures.</p>
<p>Despite substantial government spending on regional development aimed at promoting decentralisation, Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a> shows the trend to city-centred growth has accelerated in the past decade. Less than a third of us now live outside the capital cities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=522&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=522&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=522&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=657&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=657&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242417/original/file-20181026-107685-wxen12.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=657&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With the exception of Western Australian and Queensland mining regions, capital city economies over ten years have grown faster than regional economies. That’s mainly because their populations have grown faster. </p>
<p>Incomes per capita, on the other hand, have generally grown at about the same pace. Employment participation for women is similar too, although 25-to-64-year-old men in regions are 7% less likely to work than men in cities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=499&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=499&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=499&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=626&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=626&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242633/original/file-20181028-7047-1tw52qi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=626&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why do most people choose to live in cities?</h2>
<p>These are global trends. <a href="http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_c/popups/mod13t01s009.html">Large cities around the world are typically growing much faster</a> than less densely populated areas. Even in Japan, where the national population is declining, <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/12/national/japan-population-declines-fastest-pace-yet-125-2-million-government/#.W9KGYBMzZBw">Tokyo continues to grow</a>. </p>
<p>The economic advantages of cities over regions appear to be increasing as people spend more of their incomes on services rather than goods. Services businesses often prefer to be close to other services businesses, typically in large cities.</p>
<p>Regional growth programs in Australia have a poor record of trying to push economic water uphill against these trends. </p>
<p>Take for example the <a href="https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/grants/complete/hrb">New South Wales home buyers’ grant of $7,000</a> for people who move from cities to regions. Some 10,000 people were expected to take up the offer in the first year. In fact, <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/nsw-regional-home-buyers-scheme-a-280m-failure/news-story/120d7cbff370e0f93475619965e1ae37">only 4,800 grants were made</a> over three years. Many of those probably went to people who would have moved anyway – perhaps to retire to “the bush”.</p>
<p>The key problem is that people will only move to regions if there are extra jobs. And policies to encourage more jobs in regional areas also have a poor track record. The money on offer from government is rarely enough to outweigh the economic advantages for a business of locating in a city instead.</p>
<p>Most of the time we don’t even know whether regional development programs work because they are so badly administered. Auditors-general in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA have all found substantial regional development money being spent with no business case, or poor documentation, or without reference to application guidelines, and with no evaluation of whether the programs achieved the promised outcomes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=413&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=413&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=413&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=519&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=519&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242416/original/file-20181026-107695-s5oi9e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=519&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018</a></span>
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<p>The overwhelming impression is that governments don’t really want programs evaluated because they know all too well what the answers will be.</p>
<h2>What if regional population policies did work?</h2>
<p>In the unlikely event that government policy actually succeeded in encouraging many more people and employers to move to regional areas, it would probably slow growth in incomes. <a href="https://www.sgsep.com.au/publications/productivity-or-perish-australian-challenge-21st-century">Cities are more productive</a>, and this is <a href="https://reports.grattan.edu.au/regional-patterns/1-average-taxable-income.html">reflected in higher wages</a>. </p>
<p>Cities are important for innovation and economic growth. Cities offer more opportunities to share ideas, which both attracts skilled people and increases their skills once they arrive. Despite the rise of the internet and reduced telecommunication costs, innovation seems to rely on regular face-to-face contact between people in different firms, which therefore tend to aggregate in large cities.</p>
<p>So pushing extra people to regional areas runs the risk of reducing Australia’s productivity growth and per capita incomes.</p>
<h2>So what about regional ‘dormitory’ suburbs?</h2>
<p>Another strategy, much discussed in Victoria as it heads into a state election campaign, is to <a href="https://transport.vic.gov.au/our-transport-future/our-projects/regional-network-development-plan">encourage the growth of regional towns</a> as dormitory suburbs for people working in cities. Obviously this only works for regional towns that are relatively close to capital cities, with good transport links. Hence the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-03/fast-regional-trains-geelong-melbourne-coalition-election-pledge/10332060">big-spending</a> <a href="https://transport.vic.gov.au/our-transport-future/our-projects/regional-rail-revival">promises</a> to upgrade regional rail services. </p>
<p>But it is unclear why regional dormitories should be considered better than building suburbs on the city fringe. These fringe suburbs often provide access to more jobs in the other suburbs nearby.</p>
<p>In any case, the transport infrastructure needed to ferry people from homes in regional areas to jobs in the city is not cheap. Far better to relax planning laws to allow higher-density living where people want to live and can be close to a wide range of jobs – that is, in the established middle and inner suburbs of the capital cities.</p>
<h2>The danger of distorted spending priorities</h2>
<p>The fantasy that governments can divert population growth from cities to regions is also dangerous because it distorts spending priorities in regions. Government services probably improve regional lives more than government spending that is supposed to promote business growth. Government spending on regional arts and sports facilities probably has a much bigger impact per dollar than an extra kilometre of dual-lane highway.</p>
<p>Government spending per person on education and health is in fact already higher in regions than in cities, even if service levels are often lower because they cost more to deliver. But if governments are going to spend more on regional services, the money may need to be spent differently. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=559&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=559&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=559&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=703&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=703&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242421/original/file-20181026-107685-yjhs6q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=703&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">Grattan Institute State Orange Book 2018</a></span>
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<p>Grattan Institute analysis shows that poorer health and educational outcomes in some regional areas are primarily the result of socio-economic status and other risk factors – not remoteness. In health, for example, the substantial gap in mortality between regions and cities appears to result not from more distant hospitals but from people in regions tending to exercise less and have poorer diets.</p>
<p>Economic theory and policy experience, in Australia and other advanced economies, expose the “repopulate the regions” push as wishing thinking. As <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/grattan-institute-3277">this series</a> of articles based on Grattan Institute’s State Orange Book 2018 will show, there are better ways for governments to promote a growing Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website. The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.</span></em></p>Efforts by governments to redirect population growth to regional Australia have never worked. Even if such policies could be made to work, they probably wouldn't be worth the costs.John Daley, Chief Executive Officer, Grattan InstituteJonathan Nolan, Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1053762018-10-28T18:57:43Z2018-10-28T18:57:43ZGrattan Institute Orange Book 2018. State governments matter, vote wisely<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242410/original/file-20181026-107689-1266k48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The beauty of our federation is that each state can learn from each other.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This week we’re exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australia’s states, as detailed in Grattan Institute’s State Orange Book 2018. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2018-61464">here</a></em>.</p>
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<p>Election season is looming. </p>
<p>Voters in Victoria go to the polls within weeks; in New South Wales within months. </p>
<p>State policy has rarely been more important. But what should the priorities be, not only for the governments in Australia’s two biggest states, but also for the other states whose elections are further away? </p>
<p>In this series for The Conversation, based on our <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Orange Book 2018</a>, the Grattan Institute outlines where state and territory governments should focus to improve Australia.</p>
<h2>There are problems a plenty</h2>
<p>The problems aren’t hard to find. Per capita income has been flat for five years as the mining boom subsided. Home ownership is falling fast among the young and the poor. Those on low incomes are spending more on housing, and homelessness is rising, particularly in NSW. </p>
<p>Our schools are not keeping up with the best in the world. In most states, people are waiting longer for medical treatments. Electricity prices have increased significantly over the past few years while the climate policy wars rage on. </p>
<p>A new <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/?post_type=report&amp;p=6974&amp;preview=true">State Scorecard</a> compiled by Grattan Institute compares states and territories on the most important outcomes for each policy area. In many cases, some states are much better than others because their governments have implemented important reforms – often without much fanfare.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=382&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=382&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=382&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=480&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=480&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242425/original/file-20181026-107673-12hqdnr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=480&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Victoria’s hospitals cost less per patient and contribute more to better health than elsewhere. Queensland’s school students learn more in Years 3 to 5, and they are performing much better than they used to. Many Western Australian school outcomes are also much better. </p>
<p>The Australian Capital Territory has started to replace inefficient stamp duties with a much more efficient broad-based property tax. NSW has used the good times to improve its budget position. NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the ACT have all increased the transparency of political decision-making and tightened controls over money in politics.</p>
<h2>But each state can learn from the others</h2>
<p>Every state and territory can learn from others and do better. </p>
<p>State governments – particularly NSW and Victoria – face population pressures. They need to resist political pressure to wind back planning reforms that have helped to increase housing supply, and instead go further to ensure enough housing is built, particularly in established suburbs, to accommodate rapidly growing populations. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/australias-dangerous-fantasy-diverting-population-growth-to-the-regions-105052">Australia's dangerous fantasy: diverting population growth to the regions</a>
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<p>NSW and Victoria should commission work to enable the introduction of time-of-day road and public transport pricing to manage congestion in Sydney and Melbourne. </p>
<p>All states should stop announcing transport projects before they have been analysed rigorously. They should also evaluate completed projects properly.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=384&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=482&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=482&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/242640/original/file-20181028-7068-1wzpaxe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=482&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<h2>There’s much states can do</h2>
<p>Although the Commonwealth controls many economic levers, there are many others that are primarily state government responsibilities. </p>
<p>Land-use planning policies don’t only affect housing affordability. They are also amongst the biggest policy levers for state governments to boost economic growth. </p>
<p>Geography matters a lot to economic growth. An advanced economy like Australia is dominated by services industries, which often benefit from co-location and tend to concentrate in major cities. </p>
<p>How much businesses can co-locate is affected by planning rules that guide the availability of land both for businesses and the homes of the people who work in them. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/rba-research-shows-that-zoning-restrictions-are-driving-up-housing-prices-93064">RBA research shows that zoning restrictions are driving up housing prices</a>
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<p>Fewer restrictions on land use and subdivision will increase economic growth by enabling more people to access more jobs, while allowing firms to optimise their location.</p>
<p>There are other economic levers. All states should follow the lead of the ACT and replace stamp duties with broad-based property taxes. </p>
<p>States should reform electricity markets to encourage reliability and reduce emissions – whether or not the Commonwealth cooperates. </p>
<h2>And much states should not do</h2>
<p>States should stop promising to restrict competition in order to increase the sale price of assets like ports. </p>
<p>And they should accept that no amount of regional spending is likely to do much to accelerate regional growth beyond what is going to happen anyway.</p>
<p>The State Orange Book 2018 shows that the states and territories could deliver services better. </p>
<h2>Each can be guided by the best</h2>
<p>Other states should follow Victoria’s lead and reduce the cost of each procedure in public hospitals, and the variations between them. </p>
<p>And they should develop more community-based prevention programs to reduce the disparity between regional and urban health outcomes. </p>
<p>States should lift progress for all school students by identifying and spreading good teaching practices at the same time as strengthening the evidence base on what works best in the classroom. </p>
<p>They should also invest more in early learning for the most disadvantaged students. </p>
<h2>And make their decisions more open</h2>
<p>Institutional reforms are needed. </p>
<p>States need more visibility of their long-term budget positions. </p>
<p>While institutional accountability is improving in many states, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory need to limit election spending and make political donations and lobbying more transparent.</p>
<h2>Because they matter</h2>
<p>State government doesn’t always get as much attention as our federal politics. Often the important things sound a bit boring: the management of hospitals and schools; the rigorous assessment of proposed transport projects; and the minutiae of planning schemes. </p>
<p>But when these things are done well, they make a big difference to people’s lives. </p>
<p>So when people cast their votes in the Victorian and NSW elections, there is a lot at stake. </p>
<p>We hope this series will help voters to understand the key issues, and perhaps help leaders in every state understand the difference they can make.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute&#39;s activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website. The State Orange Book 2018, from which this article draws, was supported by a grant from the Susan McKinnon Foundation.</span></em></p>Ahead of two state elections, the Grattan Institute Orange Book examines the state of each state and how each can do things better. The good news is that if each copied the best in each field they would do very well indeed.John Daley, Chief Executive Officer, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.